Friday, Septmeber 14, 2007

I love to re-cycle!

I love finding new uses for bygone goods; rescuing things from the alley (my deck has some really nice flower pots! That IKEA desk I dragged home, bit-by-bit); reading old books from the second-hand place that cost a nickel; lots of my pots and pans; little thrills that double the pleasure because they’ve done double-duty.

Especially exciting was the day I ripped out my first completely knit sweater and rescued the YARN! Call me crazy, but it was a big leap to stop being in denial about poor fit or the fact I wasn’t wearing something and suddenly it became a *harvesting* opportunity. I was eyeballing lots of stuff in the closet and realizing that yarn has no expiration date that it was just ripe for the pickin’. It’s painful to make something that didn’t turn out right but more than painful to let it stare you down and taunt you forever. And when you’ve amassed a snarkin’ peanut gallery of sorts, its time…

Once, a sweater I made that didn’t fit me went the rounds to most of my female relatives and friends. First, I gave it to my sister. No go. No fit. She gave it to my mother then on and on and on…

It finally ended up back in Chicago after circuiting The Entire Region, and it was then it dawned on me I should just rippit. Duh. I made this, which although now pretty well worn and a little shabby, is also well-loved.

A little elbow grease, some re-skeining and hot soapy water and that yarn was good to go. Tough Love, baby.

Lately, a piece needed an intervention in a different way. A piece I was knitting went from broad to narrow and after the jump, I totally lost control of the needles I was using